U.S.A. vs. Apple ebook trial set for June 2013

The United States Justice Department will have their day in court against Apple -- but they'll have to wait for June 3, 2013 to do it. If you're joining this story in-progress, the U.S. government has accused Apple of anti-competitive practices and collision with book publishers to "boost the prices of ebooks". Apple claims they're fighting to keep the market free from Amazon dominance.

Amazon Inc, which makes the Kindle e-reader, had long sold e-books for as little as $9.99. The government complaint quoted Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs as wanting to offer publishers a means to boost prices, and "create a real mainstream e-books market at $12.99 and $14.99."

Apple argues it has not conspired with anyone or fixed prices for e-books in an effort to thwart Amazon's dominance of that fast-growing market. Apple says that its foray into e-books has actually fueled demand for e-books by forcing Amazon and rivals, including Barnes & Noble Inc, to compete more aggressively, including by upgrading e-reader technology.

I'm wondering why the U.S. government isn't suing over HD movie prices as well. Because, damn.

Reader comments

U.S.A. vs. Apple ebook trial set for June 2013

...because, in ebooks, the US has evidence of ostensibly competing publishers acting in concert - one of they very definitions of anti-competitive behavior outlined in over a century of case law. Apple is only involved because there is official correspondence from Apple (and unofficial correspondence from Jobs) that they facilitated this sort of concerted actions from rivals.
Had Hollywood left evidence this brazen, the US would go after them too. But I am sure you knew all this.

The real anti-competitive behavior is codified in copyright law. The law is designed to maximize profit and minimize the investment of new and useful arts. Publishers would rather sell an 80 year old classic versus support a new author. This is exactly the opposite of what copyright was designed to do. Put copyrights back in the hands of the actual artists, and devise balanced limits that clearly support the advancement of the arts.

The writers do price their books when they sell them...to the store (Amazon, B&N, Wal-Mart).
Once the reseller has purchased the book from the publisher, it has the right to price the books when they sell them to an end customer.
The publishers' collusion strips that right away from the reseller.

You guys are all missing the point. What the government is saying is that once you priced your book on I books at whatever price, no one was allowed to sell it cheaper as long as it is on I books. So if you price your book at $12.99 on I books, everyone must sell it for at least $12.99. If Walmart or Amazon wanted to sell the book at a loss, they can't, its a violation of apples terms. That is illegal.